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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Yesterday was one of THOSE days... the ones where you want to shut yourself away in your room, in the dark, in silence so you don't pull your hair out and scream.

It really wasn't all that bad, but I was so tired and frustrated by the time Ryan came home that I did just that for about 15 minutes.

Alanna didn't want put down at all. She didn't want to lay on her play mat and she refused to sit in her jumperoo. It also didn't help that she would not take a nap longer than 30 minutes.

Will was just whining. Over the weekend Ryan installed new shower heads that you can hold and now Will wants to hang onto them while sitting on the potty. Yesterday he literally spent over an hour straight in the bathroom completely by choice. When I forced him out, since it was nap time, I had a fit to deal with and for the rest of the day he just wanted to play in the bathroom. That wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that every 5-10 minutes he would come out and drag me to the bathroom to put the shower head back up and then immediately take it down. Yeah, that lasted maybe 2 times. And of course Alanna was still crying...

He also decided that a wooden spoon was a great tool for banging on things. For the most part I don't mind... except for when Alanna was about 10 minutes into one of her 30 minute mini-naps. Urgh!

I kept trying to get normal chores done and it was just NOT happening.

At least today is going much better.

Another reason I'm in higher spirits is because as of today I'm 1 week away from being in Washington! YES! I'm excited to see family and friends and enjoy the Puyallup Fair (which is argueably the BEST state fair ever) and perhaps make a trip to Klahowya to see some teachers. I really do love Washington and Oregon and wish I had like a month to be home and travel around to favorite places.

Ryan and I have also chatted that we need to make a trip up to Victoria, Canada sometime together. I've never gone there for a non-band related trip and it would be great to do whatever we wanted and not have to check-in with chaperones. If we go there I told him we HAVE to have tea at the Empress Hotel.

We've also said that for our 10-year anniversary we should go back to Willcox House out in Seabeck and stay a night or two. It was lovely to Honeymoon and we'd love to go back.

Also nearby (well, on Bainbridge Island) is The Bloedel Reserve which I've never gone to. It looks beautiful and I love gardens and such so perhaps if time and weather permit, the kids and I (and whoever else would like to come) could make it out there this trip.

I have to share that writing this post and linking the proper places has made me even MORE excited to go home. I can't wait!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

This pic is actually from awhile ago, but I just LOVE the sunsets here.

We are coming up on living in New Mexico for one year. Wow, time flies. It seems that the more time I spend here, the more I fall in love with this beautiful place -- it really is the Land of Enchantment.

A rainbow we saw within our first week moving here.

Even now it amazes me how something that seems so dry, sparce, rugged and hostile can hold so much life and have such beautiful scenery. My sister, when she visited, claims its all brown and ugly, but it really is magnificient... and maybe it helps that I have a view of the Sandia Mountains from my backyard and front door.

Earlier in the week a thunder storm rolled in. This isn't unusual. In fact, when we first moved in I loved that I could see the clouds so far away, watch as they roll in and then roll on by. The sky here is so wide and expansive it sometimes takes my breath away... and I really want to take a balloon ride up there before we have to leave. Also, this year I hope to get to the Balloon Fiesta!

Woke up one morning to this outside my back door. It was at the elementary school across the street.

Anyway, as I was saying, a thunder storm rolled in. I had seen the clouds in the distance earlier in the day, but in the evening I looked outside and the sky was this crazy orange color because of the sunset. The lightening was already beginning so I grabbed my little camera and tried to get some shots in. Of course, my camera is a simple point and shoot and lightning is harder to capture than one may think. So here are some attempted pictures.

The sky as the storm was coming in -- the colors don't do it justice.

Some lightning with the Sandias in the backgroundMore lightning. This really was a double bolt but it looks like three because I didn't have the flash on and I moved a bit.

The evening sky

I had a video I was trying to upload that showed the sky and it lighting up with the lightning and even some bolts. The thunder could also be heard. Unfortunately, the 2-minute, fairly boring, video would not load and I want to go to bed. Oh well.

During all of our time in the military we have not had to deal with a deployment yet. My husband’s current job is not a big priority over there. But on long TDY’s and such I get support from close friends and church. And of course, family. I’m sure if hubby did deploy the kids and I would spend time up in Washington to be with the family.

Hmm... I think it is a Bible that belonged to my Great-great Grandmother. I even have some of her books that are over 100 years old as well as her hope chest with some of my Grandfather’s baby clothes still inside.

That’s difficult to think about. I knew I always wanted to be a mom, but always saw a military life for myself. Since I grew up as a Navy Brat it was all I knew. After graduation I went to college and joined ROTC with the intention of having the military life for myself. Instead I married a fellow cadet (who also became my flight commander) and am now the spouse.

I just want to put this out there: I have an issue with the show "Chloe's Closet". Unless you have a small child I doubt this would be a program you watch.

It's on Sprout around 9:30 in the morning, right before "Play with Me Sesame" and "The Wiggles."

Anyway, I find the girl snobby, selfish, and overbearing and Lovely Carrot annoys me. When her friends come to play she is the one to choose to play dress-up and it is always her idea what they dress up as. On top of that, things that happen in HER imaginary world are up to her to decide.

What about her friends? Why can't they ever choose what to dress up as?

Anyway, I digress.

Haven't been posting much lately. I've actually been sorta busy creating photo albums at snapfish.com in my evening computer time. I also have some Bible studies I should be doing (though I haven't kept up as well as I should). Additionally, we had company over the other night.

I have a blog to post soon with pictures and video about the amazing thunder/lightning storm the other night. It was absolutly BEAUTIFUL!

In other news, I am trying to find more activities to get involved in. I went to the Kirtland Officer Spouses Club meeting tonight and will probably be joining. I met some wonderful ladies, and even knew some of them from PWOC. There are a variety of things to sign up for, so I chose a few that I knew I could probably keep up with that weren't too demanding and some even involved my kids. I'm looking forward to having more to do as well as more women to chat with --- but not too much on my plate so I don't get stressed out.

Oh, and am I the ONLY person who gets creeped out when closing blinds or curtains when it's dark outside or walking around the house when all the lights are turned off? I doubt it. But sometimes I imagine some freaky person jumping out in front of me.

This is not unfounded! I startle very easily... my family members would occassionally wait outside a closed door of whatever room I was in only to say "boo" when I walked out and have me scream.

There was even a time when we lived in the towers in Japan and I was riding the elevator down to the first floor (which I did EVERY DAY) and as the doors opened there was a guy standing there to get on... and I screamed.

Oh, I'm fun to be around in haunted houses and haunted corn maizes. I even played "The Woman Caught in Adultry" during an Easter play because I have 'good pipes'.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Ryan and I took some time for ourselves and saw SALT. We both really enjoyed it and chatted away about how it will probably have a sequel and how, in a way, the character was like a female Jason Bourne.

***

Sunday was church (and I love our pastor's sermons) and then afterwards we went to the Henry's house. The girls watched our kids and we went to Dion's Pizza to chat with Stu and Linda. It was very helpful and insightful and the food was really yummy!

Sunday night was our Bible Studies. Afterwards I heard that Will was kissing Kinley (Associate Pastor's daughter) in the nursery corner. It wasn't real kissing, he was giving air kisses to her "hiding" in the corner while he ran circles around the room.

***

Today Alanna had her 4-month baby well checkup. Everything seems to be going well and she is healthy. I explained that she is now on formula since I can't breastfeed her at all - very depressing. Doc said the formula she is on is really good and we can start solids whenever we want. They were also surprised how much she eats (6-8 oz. every 2-3 hours) but since she doesn't really spit up and she's sleeping all night it makes sense she eats so much during the day.

Oh, and she's LONG. About 25 inches, so 75-90% and she's over 13 pounds, so 50%. Her head circumference is also in the 50-75% range.

***

It is now very apparent Will has 2 favorite books: "Love You Forever" and "Goodnight Moon"... I think I've read them 100 times in the past few days.

Will is also attempting words more. He now says "mama" "dada (gahgah)" "kiki" "mmMMmmm" "yea" tries to say "Lana" and "cat" and if we really work with him he attempts whatever word we're emphasizing though it rarely resembles it. At least he's trying because that was something he wouldn't do before.

***

Still dealing with potty training issues. Will has had hard stools so he wouldn't want to go poop. Now we give him pedia-lax and it helps him be regular and softens for him. Unfortunately, he's still afraid to poop on the potty and we have to catch him trying to hold it or else he poops a little bit in his underwear and then cries about it. Also, since he's trying to hold it in he often can't control peeing in his pants.

Today I wanted to die.

I was dealing with fussy Alanna ('cause of her 2 vaccinations today) and I had just dealt with Will about going poop and he was left sitting on the potty. I then hear him crying... and it's a different sort of crying, not whining.

I lay the baby down and round the corner.

Ug!

He had gotten off the potty and had apparently been standing in the hallway with no pants on when the urge overwhelmed him and he took a HUGE dump on my hallway carpet. He was crying because some of it was on his foot and he tried to wipe it off on the wall.

After a stern verbal reprimand (don't want to spank him since he's got poop on his butt) he goes back on the potty, I clean off his foot/legs and then clean my carpet/wall. More verbal reprimands about how "this is not what big boys do" and "this is disgusting and gross" and "maybe I should put it in your pants and make you still wear it"... and he then was in time out and he knows I'm still mad at him.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

For awhile I've been doing really good keeping up with it. But with Maya having those accidents in the laundry room and then cleaning them up and mopping the floors, etc... I haven't been paying much attention to the hampers.

And yes, hampers is plural because I'm sorta anal retentive and have 5 different baskets; darks, lights, kids clothes, towels & jeans, and special wash. If I had more room I'm sure I'd have more.

It doesn't seem right that a family of our size should go through so many clothes. I mean, I understand the kids clothes with a baby who spits up and can poop out and Will with his messy yogurt and occassional accidents. But what drives me nuts is my husband's clothes! I swear he must go through 4 outfits a day... and that's not counting his uniform he wears for most of the day!

Then again, I'm one of those people who will wear pants/shorts without washing until they have too many dirty spots on them or begin to smell. C'mon, I'm in the house with the kids most of the time... it's not like I've got a public watching and analyzing me. At least I'm now getting to shower every day! Will is usually in the shower with me and Alanna is either sleeping or laying happily in her co-sleeper, but at least I'm getting a shower!

Anyway, my other issue is that I HATE when clean laundry is piled up. I got to the point where I've told Ryan not to touch the laundry unless he intended to fold it. A pile of clean laundry 3 feet high on top of the washer/dryer just stresses me out and I won't touch it 'cause I feel overwhelmed. What I do is have 3 baskets lined on the washer/dryer and fold each piece of laundry as I take them out of the dryer and place them in the proper person's basket.

1. If you could be a fugitive from the law for whatever reason, what would your crime be? (from It’s a Hooah Life)
staying someplace too long without a visa. Not that this would happen 'cause I'm a planner, but if I were traveling and fell in love with a place it would be hard to leave.

2. How long do you think you will be a military family? (from Julie the Army Wife)
Hoping for a 20-year career at least and since we've already got 8 years in it looks like about 12 left.3. What’s your favorite recipe? (from Keep Calm and Soldier On)
Perhaps crunchy-parmesan chicken from Rachel Ray, my sour cream potatoes or my banana bread recipe.4. What would you want your last five words to be when you leave this life? (from My Goal is Simple)
Going to be with Jesus.5. Where do you hope to retire? (from Pennies from Heaven)
A hard question. We've talked about this but can't really decide and at this point, we have time. We're thinking about going back to the Northwest, but we want to see where the military sends us during our career and perhaps choose to return to one of those places.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

After getting married (and maybe even before) I began rummaging through my mom's recipe box for things to make for dinner and to bring to potlucks and such. She has an amazing Banana Bread recipe that people LOVE. Apparently she got the original recipe from a neighbor at one of our military bases growing up. I add my own special touches to it though.

I personally do not like banana bread. Ryan really likes it though and I've also made it often for friends in Japan and given away to people as well. The Japanese people love home-baked goods and the custom when going to peoples' homes was to bring a gift, simple enough. I've received lots of compliments that it is very moist and flavorful.

The other reason I like to make banana bread is because we go through a lot of bananas at our house, but they often go brown before I'd like them to. Using those bananas to bake bread makes me feel resourceful... that they aren't getting wasted.

Anyway, it is incredibly simple to make. Just throw all the ingredients in a bowl, mix as you add each one, bake it and enjoy! It also doubles very nicely if you need to make more.

I love my KitchenAid mixer. Christmas present from hubby!

Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 "over ripe" bananas

*OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup walnuts

1 cup chocolate chips

Add all ingredients together. Mix well. Pour into 2 greased bread pans. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until baked through.
====
When I make the bread I do not add the walnuts since so many people have allergies to them and Ryan doesn't like nuts anyway. I do, however, add the nutmeg and cinnamon. No chocolate chips for us either.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

EVERY morning we wake up to a disgusting mess in the laundry room. And you may say, leave her outside, but with housing rules she can't be left out all night - coyotes. Anyway, this mess isn't a small little pile, it is spread all over the laundry room.

For the past few weeks Maya has been sentenced to staying outside all day and let in the laundry room at night. It was to the point she would run to the door to go outside and if she wasn't let outside RIGHT THEN we had a mess on our *carpeted* floor. This is not good when you have small kids in the house.

On top of that, since she had diarrhea, her whole backside was NASTY! So even between potty issues I didn't want her inside 'cause I didn't want that stuff on my floors/couches/baby toys with babies in the house. I gave her a bath and by the evening she was all gross again.

There has to be a problem because a normal dog who is a few weeks short of being 1 year old should not be having potty issues. Even a small dog.

We also tried switching her food to adult dog food. No positive result.

Today I sent Ryan to the vet to pick up her Interceptor pills - the parasite preventive. I asked him to talk with the vets there about her problem since he would be there.

They told him to bring her in today.

While there they tested for worms and checked her over. She doesn't have worms.

The verdict is that she has too much of the bad bacteria in her intestines. We now have special pills to give her every day to wipe out all the bacteria in her system. Once those pills are finished we have other pills to then give her to grow the good bacteria in her body.

That combined with the stress from having accidents and getting punished was not helping. She couldn't control the poop and being afraid of getting spanked for it caused a negative result. We haven't been using physical discipline on her for awhile, instead we've only seen her mess, told her "bad dog" and sent her outside. But whatever, we're supposed to just keep doing that then.

Also, they want us to change her food again to a special kind they specified. The vet says she could also have a food allergy which is causing the digestive issues.

Yeah, $116 later we can hopefully fix this issue. It will take a few days for the pills to begin working, if they work, so hopefully the stinky, nasty messes in the mornings will cease.

Maya has since had a good bath, but still has to stay outside until the issue is resolved. I don't trust her right now.

Monday, August 16, 2010

I can't believe how fast this weekend went. Seriously, it seemed to have flown by.

At least on Saturday I was able to get some shopping in (mostly stuff for the kids). Doing the whole formula/bottle thing is new to me, so I had to get some supplies like formula, bottles... that sort of thing. LOL. I've pretty much stopped nursing during the day because Alanna and I just can't work it out. But at night, during the night and first thing in the morning she nurses fairly well.

She is such a noisy baby! It cracks me up. While eating she makes this strange grunting sound and is now doing it just while being held. Tried to get a video of it so you can see but she wouldn't really do it. (pause music top right to hear sound better) She's laughing a lot now, especially at Will. He gets a kick out of it so he does whatever he was doing to make her laugh over and over again. He's such a good big brother.

Friday we had some friends over from church. They are teachers at the church's school and classes start this Monday so the past week has been pretty hectic for them. It was nice to have them over for pot roast and just hang out. They have two girls, ages 4 and 6, who are absolutly WONDERFUL with Will. He was sharing his toys, playing on the little bikes with them, putting shapes in the box, letting them "hug" him, chasing and running... good times for him. I told Tarah that they can come over any time. They live in the base housing that isn't really base housing so they live very close --- but we still have to sign them on and all that.

Oh, and we're setting up a day to have the children's pastor over at our place for dinner. He's a single guy and we were told he would really love a home cooked meal. Pastor Derek is just a few years older than Ryan so they should find some stuff in common. We got to hang out a bit with him during the 4th of July and really liked his company and would love to get to know him better.

Our church also just installed a new Youth Pastor. He has a wife and two boys (ages 2 and 4). I met the wife and look forward to getting to know her as well. She'll be doing the same bible study class I'm doing for Discovery U on Sunday nights.

This now makes, like, 3 Bible Studies I'll be doing in the next coming weeks. There's the one for church called "Covenant" by Kay Auther, PWOC starts in a week so I'll be doing the book of Daniel there, and I'm kind of following along to Tuesdays study "Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian at Spa Diaries. Whew... let's see if I can keep up!

Still working with Will on his mouth and tongue muscles. I've been concentrating on the "L" sound. It forces him to try to make his tongue reach the top of his mouth and hit the back of his teeth. It is an interesting sound to watch because I'll slide my tounge past my top teeth and out of my mouth to get him laughing and then he wants to try it. He's successfully made the "L" sound at least once, but several times he has made the "N" sound and I'm thrilled with that as well!

Will in the shower... he loves it!

Lately we've been having more issues with Maya. She is a year old in just a few weeks and we have continually been having potty problems. I have stopped putting her in the kitchen at night because a lot of times Will sleeps in the living room and if Maya poops in the kitchen he has to smell it all night... and it stinks up the ENTIRE house by morning. Now I've been putting her in the laundry room so at least the stench is contained.

Oh, and I should mention that it isn't regular poop, its nasty yellow, runny diarrhea. We have now bought her new food, adult dog food, to hopefully help with the problem. The bag even says so!

Unfortunately, I haven't let her in the house during the day to play with Will because she is in dire need of a bath. I gave her one just the other day but with her potty issues she is now even gross-er (even with her short hair) and I want the problem fixed before I give her another bath. Will and I still play with her outside though.

That may have been an over-share for some of you. Oh well. I used to work in a Pet Boarding Facility so dog crap was literally my job.

Moving on:

After church today, while we were still in our church clothes, I set up my camera so we could take a family photo to send to Malay (our sponsor child in India). It actually turned out decent... and EVERYONE was looking at the camera. That is quite an accomplishment with a 3 month old and the camera on a timer!

Friday, August 13, 2010

This Week:1. What is ONE thing you’d like civilians to understand about being a military family?
That we don't have the family and long-time friends close by to call at a moments notice. It is hard to have to deal with problems or situations and not have anybody close by to really give that support, besides our spouse (if they're not gone). We try to make good friends quickly, but we know that eventually we will leave them so friendships can be difficult to maintain.2. What is your favorite mistake?
Without a doubt it would be getting pregnant with our son while in Japan. Not that he was a mistake, really more of a surprise. We were not planning on having kids for several more years but William came along and I wouldn't want my life without him.3. What indulgence could you give up for a year?
Going to the movies. I love the movie theater, but films come out on dvd so fast these days I can easily wait to get them on Netflix. Plus, it would save me money!4. If you could be a winged animal, what would you be?
Maybe a hummingbird. I love to watch them outside and think they are beautiful and facinating. Plus, most people don't try to kill them and they are fast so often cats can't catch them.5. What is one question you’d like to see asked in a future MFF?
What has been your favorite station and why?

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Lots of stuff I want to write about tonight (though some not in much detail and most are pretty dumb topics, but whatever).

First off, I want to say PRAISE GOD my mother-in-law came through her surgery well. Apparently she had been having mini-strokes and thankfully she kept going back to the doctors because she knew something was wrong. Once they found out the problem she had surgury to clear her Carotid Artery. We hope everything else turns out alright and she makes a full recovery.

Second, on the last blog I mentioned Ryan's car died. Well, I put it up on craigslist and it sold that same day. Some guy wanted it so they could put in a new engine (mechanic friends to do free labor) and then give it to his nephew who will be learning to drive soon. I'm just happy it's gone and no longer our worry! We aren't in need of another car right now so we've got time to save up money and look around. Ryan and I have talked about just getting him a bike to take to work since it's like a 5 minute bike ride from our house or a 15-20 minute walk. We'll see.

Now an update on Alanna's feeding. Not going so great. The last few days I haven't been pumping, instead focusing on nursing first then giving a bottle if she was still hungry (she always was). Today I tried a pumping instead of a feeding and found I had even LESS than before. Very frustrating. Now I'm thinking of just completely abandoning the pumping since it's not helping much -- though I feel bad 'cause we spent so much on the thing. I guess if we have more kids it will come in handy, or if my sister has a baby she can use it too. Alanna nurses well first thing in the morning and during the night, but most of the time during the day it is a struggle. She'll be starting solids soon enough so I'm trying not to get too upset about it.

About the spending money thing... I realize I rarely spend money on myself anymore. I am in dire need of new clothing (especially for church) as well as shoes but I find that since having kids I spend my money on stuff for them or for our home. Like right now I've had my eye on this little pink suitcase that matches Will's blue suitcase that says "Going to Grandma's" and I LOVE IT. I really want to buy it to take on our trip home because I just think it will look adorable taking both kids with their little suitcases. Also, there's a playmat/gym thing I want to buy to keep Alanna occupied while rolling on the floor. We have a small cheap one Will used, but she really likes to swat and grab at things so I want the newer/bigger/better one for her.

My other purchases would be going for our bedroom. I'm trying to finally create a nice place for us to rest at night. We now have wonderful furniture so my next step is to find lovely, luxurious bedding. I want the whole nine yards with comforter, sheets, pillows, fancy decorative pillows, the bed skirt - everything! Haven't found the right one that speaks to me though, so I keep searching. Any ideas where to go?

Once I get the bedding I'll look for new curtains and I'm also on the lookout for a vinyl quote or scripture to stick on our walls. I don't want to paint only to repaint once we move and those wall decals won't damage the walls. Anyway, haven't found one that I like yet... so I keep looking.

Oh, and I'm also keeping my eye out for things I'm planning for the kids' room. Alanna moves in there probably within the next 3-4 months.

And Will is growing out of his shoes. He's nearly ready for size 7's! The unfortunate part is that I can't just buy one pair and call it good. I have to get tennis shoes in white and brown and possibly blue, he needs church shoes (probably black), and he also needs sandals or flip flops, as well as something quick to slip on. I know, I'm kinda mental, and most of this is completely unneccessary but I love having options on what to put on his feet, especially to match his outfits. Plus, I can usually find cheap shoes and Will has aunts and grandmas who spoil him. And yet, Alanna only has 1 pair of shoes that fit, but she doesn't walk so I'm not concerned.

You have no idea how this makes me laugh. Honestly, we don't leave the house all that much. In fact I laugh because if you knew what Will often runs around in you'd understand. Lately he is in a pair of undies and a t-shirt playing outside with a hat on (because he knows he has to wear it if he's outside) and shoes with no socks, usually on the wrong feet and most of the time they're his knock-off crocks. Really, this boy could care less about fashion.

Something off the wall here - I have no idea what color Alanna's eyes are going to be. When Will was born his eyes were seriously dark and within about a month or two we knew for sure they were going to be the deep, dark brown like Ryan's eyes. With Alanna, her eyes were lighter from the beginning. I even had a discussion with her during one of her feedings today (one-sided of course). Some days they look green (like mine). Other days they look like they're brown. And a few days ago they looked blue! Docs say babies' eyes vary in color until 6 months, so I'm really anxious to see what they will turn out to be. I have a feeling they might be olive or even hazel -- but I really hope they turn out green like mine though.

I realize this is an absurdly long blog but I want to share one last thing: Groupon.com. My friend Mandie told me about the site and I'm seriously hooked. I've bought a few things like a discount photo book from shutterly.com and tickets for the Rail Runner here in town, but today I found, on the Portland city, half price adult tickets to the Aviation Museum in McMinnville. I won't be in that area any time soon so I bought them for my parents to use. This site is truly amazing and even if you don't find anything THAT day in your city, there might be an internet deal for another city. It's kind of fun to look around each day. Anyway, if you have some extra cash I highly encourage you to see what might be available in a city near you!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

We knew it had issues and the one problem we knew about months ago Ryan never got fixed. So the other day it died on him twice, but he was able to make it home no problem. He said it was making weird noises. Today he made sure all the fluids were good and then took the car around the cauldasac to be sure all was well. It wasn't.

Coming down the stretch by our house apparently the clanking got worse and then he said it sounded like everything flew apart and the car died. It will not start again. There was fluid all over the road that looked like chocolate milk -- it was oil.

I heard some noise and saw outside Ryan pushing his car to the curb (the mailman helped him). I called my mom and looked more at the car (since I know more about car engines than my husband - and even then it's not a lot). I'm sure I looked absolutly wonderful in my pajama pants, camisol sans bra, and unbrushed hair. Will was wondering around with shoes on, a pull up and t-shirt, Lana was crying in the house. With our discriptions she says it sounds like we threw a rod, but call dad since he's the mechanic.

After talking with him, he says we threw a rod.

Not worth fixing. Sell/junk the car and get a new one.

I am SOOOO not looking forward to car payments to fit into our budget.

****

A random comment I wanted to share. About a month ago there was a shooting offbase at the Emcore Corporation building where 3 people were killed, 4 injured, and the gunman then killed himself. We were in no danger, but the gate on Eubank was closed and I knew the happenings were close but thought it was closer to the Nuclear Museum, about a mile away.

It's not often I drive through the Eubank gate, but my errands took me that way the other week. I kept my eyes out to find where the shooting had occured (human curiosity). It wasn't where I thought it was and I was quite surprised to see that the buildings were maybe a football field distance from the base's gate. The only separation was some decorative plants and the road.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

So I'm giving this a shot. Since I'm getting more into this "Blog World" (it's amazing how much is out there) I thought it was only right to create a button for "The Tervo Times". Thing is, I'm still working on my who design theme for my blog so I'm sure that later on there will be a different button(s) loaded at another time.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Lately Will has been making more noises. Most people might get annoyed that their kid is being loud and won't stop, but we're very happy. Will now says "mama" and I couldn't be more thrilled. I seriously had tears in my eyes.

I've waited nearly 2 1/2 years to hear it.

I tried to get him to also say "daddy" or "dada" but he still doesn't make the "d" sound. Instead he calls Ryan "Gah-gah"... which is still something better than nothing.

This morning I tried to get him to say "bath" or at least the "buh" sound, and he did try, succeeding in making the "buh" sound. Very exciting. This is improvement!

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The other new development is Will now jumps with both feet off the ground. We've been working on it for quite some time, but he would always do the little gallup jump or only lift one foot off the ground. Ryan has really been focusing on that, especially while they are at the park. The other day he was fully in the air. Ryan tried to get video yesterday while playing at the park, but Will wouldn't do it on camera. Oh well.

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Alanna is still doing well. Today she's been pretty fussy and only wants to eat. The pumping and nursing aren't going great so she's mostly been eating formula. To be honest, I feel bad that I can't feed her the way I did with Will... almost like I'm cheating her out of something. I keep trying though.

Right now I've been thinking about when to start her on solids. I'm tempted to just wait until we get back from vacation next month so that there's less to worry about and it'll be in the comfort of our own schedule and home. It's more for me than for her. Also, we see her doc at the end of this month and I'll talk with them since she is still fairly skinny and most of the time they recommend babies have doubled their birth weight before starting first solids. Don't know why... So yeah, I'll give it a little longer.

I was glad to finally find this onsie while unpacking the boxes in the garage. I bought it before leaving Japan - before we knew if we were having a boy or a girl. She has this green one, a yellow one, and a friend over there bought us a pink one after Alanna was born. And that funny face she's making is probably because she literally just pooped out of her diaper all over her clothes in the back.

Will napping after playing outside and having lunch. He chose NOT to take off the hat.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Oh! I'm so excited! Ryan and I worked our finances out and me and the kids will be going home to Washington for a week in September! Yay!

Originally I wanted to go home this month because I wanted to see my brother before he leaves for training... and I also wanted to see my sister's puppies. There are other reasons for going home; to see my grandpa and so Ryan's dad can meet Alanna... yeah.

I was to the point of driving home, but Ryan is freakishly against it. Go figure. The problem is that ticket prices this month meant that only Alanna and I could go home. Southwest was having a sale (that ended today) but the ticket days started in September. After talking stuff out and getting some schedule input from my mom we decided to go ahead and purchase the tickets for September.

Perhaps my brother can swing by New Mexico on his way to Colorado after training. Or on a long weekend we can meet up or something.

And we're planning a trip to the Four Corners in late September, but we might hold off and go in early October now that the kids and I are doing a little vacation. We'll just see how the money pans out.

In other news, Will had another speech therapy session. Again he wasn't very cooperative and I almost think the therapist should be more aggressive with him, but whatever. He did some puzzles and babbled a little bit. I'm supposed to keep up the lip and tongue exercises. After more discussion and her saying she is trying to get him an occupational therapist to work on his fine motor skills she suggested Equine Therapy. Now is a good time to get into the program since the 4-year olds are being moved out of the program and there are openings. I'm up for it. We'll see what it can do to help.

On the feeding front, Alanna is doing better. She's just happier not being hungry. Still nursing, pumping and allowing formula. I did some reading on what can help as well as get some advice from a few friends who went through the same issues... so now I'm looking for Fenugreek. I'm pretty sure they have it at GNC (when I worked there we carried it).

And my baby is on the move! Well, she's rolling tummy to back and back to tummy. She pushes around with her feet and she ends up in strange places in the living room while I take Will to the potty or get chores done. She's also Miss Smile. Oh, it is adorable!

More news! Ryan and I have become sponsors of a little boy in India. I'm very excited about this. We're sponsoring through Compassion International. His name is Malay Rana. We'll get our sponsorship packet in a week or two and then we can begin writing letters and what not. I'm looking forward to also sharing this with Will and Alanna.

And yes, this is legit. I actually know a woman who went to India with Compassion and saw the work they did up front and personal. Info on the company can also be checked out through the Better Business Bureau and has been endorsed by trustworthy Christian programs.
Not thinking of anything else to share right now... and I've got some chores to finish before I go to bed (in BRAND new sheets!) and try to get some decent sleep.

Monday, August 2, 2010

For the past several weeks Alanna has been really fussy. She is usually good natured so this bothered me. Finally in the past few days I pieced it together -- she's hungry.
I've been nursing Alanna with an occassional bottle of formula when Ryan and I go out (about once a week, if that). We're usually only gone about 2-3 hours, so it's not a big deal. Other than that she might get a bottle once a week just because that seems to be what she wants because she won't nurse. The other night I gave up trying to nurse her and gave her a bottle because she was doing what she's been doing lately -- eat for about 5 minutes then cry, try to eat but just let go and cry. This would continue.

Turns out, I'm not producing enough for her to eat.

This bothers me. I did not have this problem with Will and I nursed him for a year. But I even mentioned to my sister that I was not as "full" as I was when I had Will. I haven't been doing my P90X for about a month, so that shouldn't affect it at this point.

Yesterday we went out a bought a really nice breast pump. I'm hoping to try to increase my supply and also in the cases where we go out she can still have breast milk and not formula. It is from this I realize how hungry my baby has been. When she gets a bottle of formula she'll nearly drink the 4 oz. in one feeding. During this day of pumping I finally got to about 5 oz. and that was about 5 different double pumpings. That is just depressing.

So yeah, I'll try taking more vitamins and continue the pumping and nursing and hopefully my supply will increase.

If this is TMI for you, sorry. This is my life here.

Alanna is 4 months soon and then she'll get started on cereal, so that will hopefully help keep her full.

Anyway, on another note, Alanna is now rolling over! She actually did it a few times after getting so angry she would flip over. Now she'll do it fairly regularly when placed on her stomach. In the video I moved her arm in position because I didn't want to wait forever to get it on camera.

She still likes to babble and blow raspberries. Very different from when Will was a baby. Overall, she's usually just very happy. Alanna is also beginning to really grab for toys, you know, getting that coordination down. Lately she's really been into her feet. Funny.

Will is also doing well. He is trying to sign more -- with the few signs I've taught him. Still having some potty training issues with pooping, but we've been using some pedia-lax and that seems to help. In the one video you can see him doing his "potty dance" as I call it. It is so obvious he needs to go, but he shakes his head that he doesn't. Silly boy. I'm sure he'll love this video as a teenager. LOL!
He still isn't quite jumping with both feet off the ground, but we're working on it. Right now his favorite thing is to be on the couch and then LEAN out and have Ryan catch him. He's almost jumping off the couch, but not quite. I don't mind that, as long as he's not actually jumping on the couch. Ever since we went to Roswell and he did that in the pool it is his favorite game to play with Ryan.

An Air Force wife and stay-at-home mom to two young children and a dog. Former Navy Brat and call Washington State home. These are the glimpses into my life -- the military, a son with a severe speech disorder, my hobbies, my opinions, and our travels as we take in the world around us.